A number of tools are used to screed and smooth finish horizontally or flat placed fresh concrete. In most horizontal/flat wet concrete screeding and smoothing applications where a pole or handle is attached to the screeding/smoothing blade or roller, the screeding tool operator is in a fairly upright standing position, walking backwards, facing the screed/smoothing tool. The operator pulls the screeding/smoothing blade/roller across the un-screeded/smoothed concrete, leveling, smoothing, finishing and compacting the pulled over fresh concrete. The screeding/smoothing tool blade or roller end may be vibrated by some vibratory means to assist in screeding/smoothing the concrete.
A roller may also be used on horizontal fresh concrete when there is the desire for decorative application treatments. The decorative roller may be used in an application to press in a concrete stencil into a fresh concrete surface. Another decorative roller application may be where a pattern is imprinted on the roller where when the roller is rolled over the horizontal fresh concrete the roller pattern is left on the face of the concrete.
Most all of the existing horizontal flat concrete screed/decorative rolling tool blades or rollers are in a fairly fixed position as to the angle of the blade or roller to the pole or handle, vertically or laterally, and cannot be readily adjusted to allow the blade or roller to be rotated and fixed into a new angle in relation to the axis of the pole or handle. In horizontal flat fresh concrete screed/decorative rolling there is usually not a need for multi-axis rotation of the blade or roller due to the position of the tool operator being fairly “squared up” pulling and/or pushing in an applied force perpendicular to the longitudinal surface of the blade or roller.
A significant amount of the horizontal screed/smoothing and decorative rolling tool weight can be placed on the horizontal flat fresh concrete surface such that the screed/decorative tool operator is not having to carry the majority of the horizontal tool weight. In most of the horizontal/flat concrete screed/decorative rolling tool application approximately ½ to ⅔rds of the tools weight is placed on the horizontal flat fresh concrete surface. The ability for the horizontal fresh concrete to carry much of the screed tool load is very beneficial to vibrating screed/rolling tools especially when the vibrating power motor is placed closed to the blade or roller.
Screed, smoothing, finishing and/or decorative rolling a vertical fresh concrete surface is significantly different and usually more difficult taking more concentration by the vertical screed/decorative tool operator to screed/decorative roll than on a horizontal flat concrete surface. When attempting to screed or roll vertical fresh concrete the tool operator needs to continually align the vertical screed/rolling tool blade or roller in the right angle with the plane of the surface of the fresh concrete, while maintaining effective pressure on the vertical tool, pulling, drawing or pushing the vertical screed/rolling tool. The vertical surface may be above the operator's chest height, equal to or below his chest height, at angles many times difficult for the vertical tool operator to continually maintain. Also the vertical surface(s) may have various turns and angles. The vertical screed/rolling tool cannot be so heavy, especially at the blade or roller end, that the vertical screed/decorative rolling tool operator tires too quickly.
What is needed is a screed, smoothing, finish and decorative rolling tool that has enough blade, roller, pole/handle adjustments that allows the tool operator to screed/decorative roll the vertical fresh concrete at a comfortable and efficient alignment/angle(s). The vertical screed/decorative rolling tool needs to be also efficient and light enough to not over burden the tool operator.